In related corporate news, CVS Pharmacy announced it will begin selling health and beauty products containing cannabidiol oil (CBD) from the hemp plant, a close relative of marijuana legalized nationally in December 2018 that does not produce marijuana's characteristic euphoria. Read More

With recent ballot box victories for marijuana, Brian Hobbs cautions against panic, setting forth prayer and witness as key steps for Christians concerned about the harm of mind-altering, addictive drugs on families and society. Read More

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Abortion rights, marijuana use and legalized gambling drew mixed results on state ballots across the U.S. Nov. 6.

Alabama voters authorized display of the Ten Commandments in public places in a measure that prohibits the use of public funding to support challenges to the state constitutional amendment in court. The amendment, which requires displays to comply with federal constitutional requirements, carried 72 percent of the vote, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

Pro-life measures

Alabama and West Virginia amended their constitutions to proclaim that the states themselves do not recognize a woman's right to abortion, nor authorize the use of public funding to pay for such procedures, the Associated Press reported. Read More

OKLAHOMA CITY (BP) -- Since adopting what may be America's most permissive medical marijuana law, Oklahoma has seen pushback by medical experts and other citizens against potential misuse of the drug.

State Question 788 was adopted by Oklahoma voters June 26 to legalize medical marijuana, but the ballot measure did not provide detailed instructions on who may use marijuana or who may prescribe it. That task fell to state legislators and licensing boards. Read More

OTTAWA, Canada (BP) -- Canada's nationwide legalization of recreational marijuana, said a Canadian Baptist leader, should spur churches to adopt a "more aggressive approach" to warning believers about the spiritual and physical dangers of drug use.

"Everyone is going to be exposed to" legalized marijuana use, said Gerry Taillon, national ministry leader for the Canadian National Baptist Convention (CNBC). "So the church is going to have to take a little more aggressive approach to developing a polemic against and an education against drug abuse."

A bill known as the Cannabis Act passed Canada's Senate June 19 by a 52-29 vote after passing at the House of Commons in November, according to media reports. Read More

OKLAHOMA CITY (BP) -- Oklahoma's adoption of what may be the nation's most permissive medical marijuana law has left some evangelicals concerned the drug could gain an increased hold on the state.

"The approval of so-called medical marijuana is disappointing but not shocking," Brian Hobbs, editor of Oklahoma's Baptist Messenger newsjournal, said in a statement. "The culture in America is increasingly in favor of marijuana use, and this state question gives marijuana a dangerous foothold in the Sooner State. Christians need to redouble our efforts on ... Read More

WASHINGTON (BP) -- It remains unclear whether U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' reversal of rules that had enabled states to legalize marijuana will fan or extinguish cannabis flames spreading across the U.S.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the tension between state and federal law has the potential to make 2018 "a hinge year" regarding not only legalized marijuana, but society's moral perception of marijuana use. Read More

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- As legal recreational marijuana sales began in California Jan. 1, Gateway Seminary President Jeff Iorg bemoaned the increased "human toll" the drug is likely to have on America's most populous state.

"Whatever economic gains the legalization of marijuana will supposedly produce will be offset by the human toll on damaged relationships, loss of productivity in the workforce and the cost of expanded social programs to deal with the fallout of this bad social experiment," Iorg, leader of Southern Baptists' Ontario, Calif.-based seminary, told Baptist Press in written comments. "It's another step in the wrong ... Read More

NIPTON, Calif. (BP) -- A cannabis company's plan to turn a Southern California town into a marijuana-focused tourism destination has prompted two local Baptist associations to make it a destination for missions too.

This month, the cannabis company American Green Inc. announced it is purchasing the entire 80-acre town of Nipton, Calif., along the California-Nevada state line, some 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas. American Green says it will develop Nipton into a "first-of-its-kind eco-tourism experience for conscious cannabis consumers," CNN reported. Read More

RENO, Nev. (BP) -- The start of legal recreational marijuana sales in Nevada, Baptist leaders in the state say, has provided churches with another ministry opportunity.

"I don't want churches to get [self-righteous] about condemning those" who purchase marijuana legally, said Kevin White, executive director of the Nevada Baptist Convention and an opponent of marijuana legalization. Rather, churches should "minister to them and reach out to them so that their dependency is not on a drug ... What they're lacking is hope in Jesus Christ." Read More

Formed in 1946 by the Southern Baptist Convention, and supported with Cooperative Program funds, Baptist Press (BP) is a daily (Monday-Friday) international news service. Operating from a central bureau in Nashville, Tenn., BP works with a large network of contributing writers, photographers and editorial providers to produce BP News.